Sunday, July 31, 2011

There's just something so soothing and magical about working with clay... My fingers have been moulding, shaping, pinching and smoothing - manipulating the clay and then, waiting for it to dry before the next layer can be added. My newest creation is inspired by old beauty advertisments, vintage patterns and of course a little something strange and out of the ordinary. She's still got a ways to go till she's done, but here's her progress so far..

I'm not sure what's in store for her, but I'm sure she'll tell me as we get to know each other better:)

Awaiting her hair and stole.

Made a sweet little sleepy lamb named Lullaby this week. She's off to a new home, but I have plans to make a little pig in a similar style as soon as I'm finished the art doll.

Oh and I must show you some pics of our newest baby - we picked her up on Friday night and she's just so adorable!! Don't have a name for her yet, so she's been called Little Miss for now:)

Monday, July 25, 2011

I have a fun little project for those of you who'd like to make some sweet little Animal Berrettes! This will be my first tutorial and I'm hoping to offer more in the future.

These little cuties are SO easy to make and really don't take long at all! All you need is:
: Felt in different colours
: Seed beads
: Embroidery thread
: Polyfil
: And a metal hair clip

** Please read through carefully before you begin **

: Print out the pattern at the bottom of the page.
: Cut out two faces, two ears of your choice and the flower

Using a double strand of embroidery thread, embroider a tiny X slightly below the centre of the face. Sew on the seed beads as shown and, if you like, add little 'lashes' at the outer corners of the eyes.

Whip stitch the darts on front and back face pieces, making sure to sew them up on the wrong side of the felt.

Open both pieces and carefully sew the ears onto the wrong side of the back of the head using invisible stitches. Just make sure that you don't see the stitches on the right side.

This is what the front and back pieces look like at this point. Note how I've placed the ears slightly inside the edges of the head.

Pin head front and back together, wrong sides together and whip stitch around to the base of the ear.

Blanket stitch across the entire length of the ear and then whip stitch to the second ear, repeat blanket stitch once you reach that ear.

Continue whip stitching around, but leave a space at the bottom for stuffing.

Stuff the head, using an orange stick or popsicle stick to gently push stuffing in as you go. Whip stitch bottom closed. Do not cut your thread, instead, insert it in through the bottom and out just below an ear.

Thread your felt flower onto the needle.

Add a seed bead in the centre and carefully attach flower to the head. If you have enough thread left at this point, take it out through the back of the head.

Using the photo as a guide, place metal clip at the back of the head and securely stitch the inner prong in place.

And there you are!! How sweet is that?? I'm pretty sure that any little girl would love one or two of these adorable hair clips! Of course, you could also attach a pin back onto the back and make them into brooches too:)

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Hello everyone, hope you're enjoying your weekend! I'm super excited to let you know that my two Little Ladies - Amilie and Sybille are finished! I had hoped to have them ready earlier this week, but you know how things go.. Just glad I can share them with you today!

These two are quite possibly my favourites of all the Little Ladies I've ever made and I really wanted them to be very special. Their dresses are edged in ruffled hems and I hand beaded little lace collars at their necks. Tiny patches are appliqued on the fronts of the dresses.

I made them the sweetest little undies with lacy leg openings and used hand woven wool felt for their shoes.

I finished all the outfits late last night and decided to wait till I got up this morning to dress them. Thank heavens the sun was shining early and the pics turned out lovely!

Recently I was contacted by a lovely lady named Renae who runs BenzieBazaar on Etsy. Her shop carries a wonderful selection of Merino Wool blend felt and is available in 80 gorgeous colours. Renae asked me to curate a list of colours from her collection of felt that I thought would be perfect for complimenting my patterns. Here are my picks:

I also wanted to share a lovely story about a South African lady I met on Etsy who had featured my Woodland Fox pattern in one of her treasuries. When I realized she was from my native country, I left a comment for her on the treasury in Afrikaans - a language only spoken in South Africa and a derivative of the Dutch language. Well, we instantly became friends and it turns out she lives very close to where I grew up!! Small world! Anyway, she did a lovely feature on her blog about me a couple of weeks ago which I really meant to share with you sooner, but unfortunately didn't get around to it with my busy life and sick hubby! But here it is: http://mieartandcrafts.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-very-small-world-gingermelon.html. Baie dankie Wilmarie, alles van die beste vir jou en jou gesin!

And lastly, I just want to say a HUGE thank you for your thoughts and prayers for my hubby. He's taking it easy and we're hoping that he doesn't have to go in for surgery. Both the urologist and our family doctor have said that if the stone doesn't pass on it's own, it would have to be removed surgically. Neither mentiond the ultasound shock therapy so I'm not sure if it's too big for that. Will let you know how everyting goes.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Hello! Just wanted to share a few quick pics of a couple of Little Ladies I've been working on. I just had an urge to make these two and thought I'd show you their progress so far. They still need their dresses, undies, shoes and a smidgeon of blush, but they're coming along nicely and I'm hoping to have them ready by Wednesday afternoon.

Sybille is on the right and Amelie the left. I took this shot right after I applied the first layer of hair.

Please excuse the nudity, they're still waiting for their outfits:)

What do you think? I love the texture of the blue yarn and how it has a wavy look about it, it's a soy wool blend. The lavender yarn is sooo soft and is made from 100% baby Llama wool.

The last few days have been very stressful. I had to rush my hubby to the emergency on Thursday because of severe pains in his flank and groin. I was so worried because he is a very healthy guy and hardly ever gets sick. Thankfully, the staff were wonderful and quickly hooked him up to an IV with painkillers. After an ultrasound, they were able to diagnose that he has a 5 mm kidney stone. Who knew that a tiny thing like that could cause such unbearable pain?? I've heard people say that the pain is worse than childbirth!! So, he has spent the weekend on heavy pain meds and we are still awaiting the passing of the stone. Today we visited a Urologist and he's hoping that it passes on its own. If it doesn't, John will have to have surgery to remove it. Please say a little prayer for him. I would really like him to be able to take more time off work, at least until the stone passes, but unfortunately, things are very hectic at the moment and he's really needed there. I'm just hoping he doesn't have to wait too much longer!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Many thanks to all who entered the Pattern Give away! It's really quite interesting to read from the comments I get as to which patterns/paper dolls etc. are the favourites among readers! Well, it seems that the Petal Bears are definitely the fave's of this give away! Thank you everyone for your lovely comments!

I will contact each of the winners by email and send out the patterns within the next day or so. I do hope you all enjoy making them! Please contact me with any questions you may have, I'm happy to help:)

Monday, July 11, 2011

Did you love paper dolls as a child? What about vintage greeting cards, beautifully hand illustrated and sprinkled with glitter and nostalgia? Well, I am a huge lover of both and wanted to create a paper doll collection that would reflect a certain vintage charm and bring back memories of a childhood filled with innocence and fun.

A Trip to the Patisserie is the first in a new series of paper dolls and accessories that I am working on and I'm very excited about the finished set! I hand drew and coloured them with pencil crayon, turned them into prints and then embellished them with tinsel and fine glitters, as well as microbeads. Each set will be signed and dated by me and I think they'd look lovely set in pretty frames and hung in a little girl's room.

This set is also available in a colour-your-own version, and both are now available in my new shop. Hope you like them!

P.S. Thanks to all who have left comments on my pattern giveaway! There are two days left before the draw, so if you haven't put your name in yet, please don't forget!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

It is very late and my hubby and I have been working most of the night to finish up three new patterns that will be available in my shop tomorrow. I'm super excited about these as I've had many requests for them in the past and I am happy to finally make them available.

This is the Petal Bear pattern. It'll include Bunny, Kitten, Bear and Puppy ears, as well as all the accessories - cookies, a little book, a fish and bird friend and a sweet little beaded felt flower for adornment.

This pattern is very easy and I've made it especially for those of you who would love to try a mohair project, but think it might be quite daunting. Well, it's not!! And I can assure you of that!

I share tips on cutting the mohair and sewing it with a sturdy combination stitch that will keep your bear looking good for years to come. Included are easy to follow instructions and illustrations to guide you along the way.

Best of all, they are so sweet, everyone you know will want one!

These are the Scaries. Quite possibly the kookiest things I've ever made! But, oh-so-much fun to do!! If you have a quirky imagination, these are for you!

These can be made into hanging ornaments, brooches, or just mini characters.

Perfect for Halloween!

And, lastly, the Little Elephant pattern. These are a little more advanced, though still easy to follow even if you are a beginner.

I just love these - They are unbearably cute and I think they might just be my favourites of all!

This pattern uses a combination of mohair, fabric and hand woven felt. I've used cotton lace, a tiny silver charm and a beaded felt hair flower as a finishing touch for them.

For a special touch, I've embroidered a little beaded daisy onto the pink elephant's foot pad and appliqued tiny fabric patches onto the foot pad of the yellow ellie.

Now for the best part!!! I will be giving away SIX patterns. To enter, please leave your name and the pattern you would choose if your name came up in the draw. I will hold the draw on Wednesday, July 13.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Yay!! I'm happy to announce that I've just opened up a second shop on Etsy - SugaredViolet - which will have all my paper dolls and, hopefully in the future, some prints I've been thinking of as well as some other paper related things. Please stop by for a visit: http://www.etsy.com/shop/SugaredViolet.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

My hubby and I just celebrated out 17th wedding anniversary this week and our oldest son has graduated from high school! Wow!! Where did time go? I am such a proud mommy and can only wish him the best for his future! Our youngest son will be graduating next year and is a little upset that he won't be able to bug his brother at school anymore:)

So, between all the goings-on, I managed to finish three little projects I'd been working on. These are two little mohair elephants I've made.

Trifle, on the left, is a custom order for someone special. Buttercup is available in my shop﻿. Both are made from long pile mohair and vintage floral cotton. Each wears a beaded felt flower in her hair and a lace collar to which I've attached a tiny silver charm. I will be working to make the pattern for these elephants available within the next week or so.

Putting all the pieces together.

For those of you who are wondering, these are super easy to make and are mostly hand sewn, except for the body, which is machine sewn. Finished elephants measure 5 inches tall, seated. Once I've completed the pattern, I will be having another GIVEAWAY, so please check back if you're interested in putting your name in the draw!

That's us on our anniversary. We celebrated it on the same day as my son's graduation, so it was doubly special!

Jody in cap and gown. Yay, he did it!!

My little sweeties, Dylan on the left, Jody on the right.

To all my friends in the US, happy Independence Day!! To all my Canadian friends, hope you had a lovely Canada Day long weekend! And to everyone else, have a wonderful week:)
Shelly
xo

Little Ladies

Little Lady wearing a Blythe Animal Bonnet

Binky Boos

Cloud Pillows

Mini Bunny - Free Tutorial

International Dolls WIP

Charlie Chaplin

Paper Dolls - Free Download

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About Me

My life is lived to the fullest! I cram as much as I can into a day, and often find that there's still not enough time to do all the things I love doing! I'm a work-at-home mom of two handsome young men and wife to a dear, patient, loving man who puts up with all my fabrics, dolls, bears and other oddities which are slowly taking up every inch of our very tiny apartment!